What's the most vivid memory about your first jump?

[jraf 0]

I spent 2 evenings in ZHills before my first jump. First when I arrived Friday night, second on Saturday as AFF was weathered out. I knew the pilot, the other croud. I was scared of the jump on the way up in the Twin Otter. Then the jump - first COA non existent, but did my practice pull perfect (sure I knew how to do it - I was too scared not to know) and then the landing. 200 feet on approach I noticed a small plane standing on the grass near the landing area. I started screaming at the top of my voice "Eric there is a F**king plane, S**T there is a F**king plane" and then I heard Eric's calm response over the radio "Well then don't hit the plane"

jraf

Me Jungleman! Me have large Babalui.
Muff #3275

[ZipTie 0]

doooor ,the wind and a 15 minute wait (with the door still open) for a opening in the clouds.had a good stand up landing and didn't plf,so i made it look good i drop and rolled

[f1freak 0]

Sitting next to the door of the old 206...
When the door opened up, i thought i was gonna die...
I remember my whole body slid as close to the pilot seat as i could...
My brain was yelling at me "what the hell are you trying to prove here"...
Then i remember letting go of the strut, and thinking yea.... this is what it's all about...
The rest is history......

HAVE FUN...
...JUST DONT DIE

[JCoonce 0]

Every detail is the most vivid. It's been 3 ½ weeks since my first jump, and man am I hooked! My first jump was AFF, and I had two really awesome female skydiver instructors - the theme was "chicks rule," which I thought was cool in this male dominated sport.
My husband and I took the course together, and he jumped before me - without a doubt, I was the most nervous watching him fall from the sky with his instructors. The other fun jumper parachutes had opened, but he was still falling! My heart sank, then, ahh, a nice big student parachute opened followed by two much faster canopies. He made it! I was on the next load, so I started suiting up and was briefed again. I followed one of my instructors into the King Air, and thought, “This is insane!” My emotions were flying, but I just tried to go over the dive plan when I was nervous. At about 8,000 ft, I thought I was remarkably calm - then, I checked my heart rate, and it was about 180! My instructor went over the plan with me again, did another gear check, and helped me with my goggles and helmet. My radio was on, and I was ready to skydive!
Getting into the door at 13,000ft. was a huge rush - I loved it! I did the count, and we were off! We were stable out of the door, I did my COA and 3 practice pulls. My second COA, I couldn’t believe how much altitude we still had left. My instructor gave me the bird (she warned us earlier that that’s a good thing), and I was in heaven - I was flying!!! (Ok, dropping, but it didn’t feel like that to me). To spare more details, it was an awesome jump, good landing, and I passed! My husband and I stayed at the dropzone for hot wings and drank some beer, then we were back the next day for levels 2 and 3.

[fudd 0]

Prety much the same here...and a little extra...
The wind and the noise! For some reason I had expected a nice breese, not this hard noisy wind. The secondary jumpmaster busted the exit (he hit the side of the plane (tailgate)). I looked left and he wasn't there. Looked right and the primary gave me a thumbs up and a big smile The most funny memory is when I pulled. I reached for the ripcord. Took a firm grip and pulled it. Looked at my hand holding the ripcord as hard a i could and I almost paniced as I thought. SHOULD THIS THING COME LOOSE!?!
Then of course WHAM! and I were under canopy, and it was this incredible silence for a little while. Looked at the canopy flying perfect. Then I yelled "YOOHOOOOO!!!!! YEAH!!!"

[gus 1]

Great thread
I remember looking around in freefall, seeing another tandem and thinking this is where it's at, this is just way too cool!
And the canopy ride afterwards, it seemed so weird after the 'violence' and the noise of freefall - almost unreal. I remember the TM (Andy Page at UK Skydiving) turning and flaring the canopy up high - I thought I was going to pass out, LOL!

Gus

OutpatientsOnline.com

[fonz 0]

Pretty much all I remember from my first (tandem) jump is yelling "Yeeehaaaah!!!!" out the door.

From my first AFF jump I remember how sensitive the air is to you changing body position (e.g. legs out or something).

And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes.
-- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[skypuppy 1]

What I noticed on my first s/l (a round) was the unearthly silence after the 182 flew away from me...

It reminded me of being in church. Never really noticed the silence as much again, but it was one of things I most enjoyed.

If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

[Stacy 0]

I remember this. How embarrassing. This is why I jump a full face now, no way to put it opn backwards.

[Brisco 0]

Cool thread! Everyone so far has pretty much described my memories of that first jump (tandem). I remember thinking "this is so COOL!" and how quickly 60 seconds went by - seemed more like 10 seconds! Had a hard opening that almost knocked the wind out of me - never expected that. The part of a jump that still amazes me is the sudden difference in environment - inside a (relatively) quiet plane with a solid floor under your feet and then you're just out there! Thrills me every time!!
After my 3rd or 4th jump, someone at the dz said "you can almost feel your blood pressure drop after a jump" and I realized how calm and serene I felt after a jump. I have slightly high bp (on meds for it) and since I've started skydiving my bp has been considerably lower than normal. I went for a couple of jumps yesterday (9/11 - jumped the Frankenotter, btw - it's alive! it's alive!) and as an experiment I brought my bp monitor with me and checked myself before and after. My first jump of the day was my first ever solo (BEER), so I was a bit keyed up about it. My bp before that first jump was 145 / 94. My bp after the second jump? 114 / 74!! I can't wait to tell my doctor about that!!

Brisco

Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.

[diverdriver 5]

Having my IAD JM look at me in the eye and bark out "Look up and go!" and I immediately let go. Then the thought came over me as my fingers straightened, "Maybe I should have thought about that longer." LOL. Whoosh and the canopy was open.

Chris

[Galen 0]

Did a tandem with a group of friends about a year before I did AFF. My roommate was the first of us to jump. He was in the door and looked back.... I had never seen anybody look so pale. And then they leaned forward and disappeared. It looked like someone through a paper bag out of a fast moving car. And then it was my turn.

Respect the Dolphin

[jimmytavino 16]

My first jump was also my first time in an airplane.
I remember how neat everything looked, once we got up in the air a bit... I do recall the rush of air and noise upon exit,,,, and the silence and peace which followed seconds later (static line)..
But the most vivid memory was landing literally, ten feet from the old silk canopy which had been spread out on the ground as a target...I stood there thinking,, "Hot Damn, that was FUN!!!")
In 4 days, I will enjoy the 30th anniversary of that important date, in my life.......Sept.16, 1972.....wow....I'm working on putting the personel together to do a night 12 way next weekend, in celebration.....yahoo.

[Meathorse 0]

My tandem instructor pointed a bit out below the horizon on my first jump... so I take a look and see a couple thin, whispy looking clouds ahead and below us... then at eye level... then back up against the sky where they belong. Wow
Right after we're under canopy he points again. There's my sister's boyfriend mirroring those clouds just off to the left of us. Slightly above... eye level... a bit below... then the explosion of color above his head as he comes to what looks like a complete stop. (yeah, he pulled a little low
Jumping from a plane is badass enough, then I get to see 2 things like that?... about messed myself from sheer joy.

[jessefs 0]

I remember everything from my first (tandem). After getting comfortable under canopy which took a few seconds, I was so overjoyed I wanted to cry. I felt like I was hypnotized for the reset of the day. Kinda like when I lost my virginity

jesse

<* Spread the Love! *>

[seedy 0]

Did a tandem from a C182. All the way to altitude I kept looking at the door wondering if I could get out of it when the time came. No problem. They opened that door and away we went. Freefall was awesome, but when that canopy opened, I knew I had to get back up there and do it again. It was so quiet and peaceful under that canopy.
I get to do my first jump Saturday wearing a parachute and not being hooked to someone else - AFP #1. I am so excited I can hardly get any work done.

I intend to live forever -- so far, so good.

[DTOXX 0]

Thru either stupidity or just blind trust in complete strangers, I was not all that afraid on my first jump. I remember EVERYTHING about the jump but it was the landing that everyone else seems to remember. I landed directly on the big "X" that markes the closed runway. PLF'd right onto the asphalt. Everything was fine and I am now able to PLF closer to the target.

-------
D.T. Holder
SIMstudy

[kevin922 0]

Ahh I remember 2 rides for the price of one! I went to a small DZ which was S/L only... turns out a swat team from my local town was there to jump as well, I was paired up with a swat member and his wife - the swat member was to be the first out, they opened the door and he just couldn't do it, couldn't get out.. so we went down and let him out.. ended up going back up with his wife and jumping.

:-)

[skygirlpc 0]

Oh, man, there is so much that i remember! It was my first time even on a dropzone, so I was so amazed with everything! From only having to do like 10 min. of training (tandem). To how we had to sit in the twin otter. My tandem master was the best ever, but was by all means a "skydiving bum"! I guess my most vivid memory was the state of pure elation that I was in when we reached the ground! The whole experience was more amazing than I ever could have imagined! It shows in the video as I do this strange "cheerleader" type jump!
I know this is getting long but I have to talk about my first AFF! I was so scared that while standing in the door waiting to exit, I was bawling! I cried so much that my goggles were all fogged up! But, once I faced that fear and exited it was all good! It just clicked! Probably my favorite jump to date!

"Life is either a great adventure or nothing." - Helen Keller

[Sassy 0]

Sorry this is so long, just can’t get it any shorter

My first and only jump so far was just 3 ½ short weeks ago. I was in California on business and decided to make my jump there where nobody knew me. I was not as nervous as I thought I would be, I had been reading posts here, talking to skydiving friends and visualizing the entire jump and I was ready.
The TM practiced with me on the ground all the positions I would need to take. I had my own altimeter too. I was still pretty relaxed going to altitude. There were 3 other jumpers in the plane and on the way up they had the door open for a little while, just hanging out looking at everything. I was so amazed by that. One of them was even barefoot and I thought that was the coolest thing, to be that confident and relaxed.

When it was time to get into position, the TM got everything all hooked up and we scooted towards the door. When we were in position at the door, he said 1, 2 and it felt just like the practice on the ground. All of a sudden I was like. “oh, we’re out”. I could not get enough of looking around at everything. At 6000’ he put my wrist in front of me and tapped my altimeter. The first thought that went thru my mind was “and your point is”. Then I remembered, “oh 5,500, time to pull” and went looking for the handle, but couldn’t find it so he had to pull. After we were under canopy, the TM told me he needed to make some adjustments on the harness and I was thinking, but what if he unhooks the wrong thing. Then he said he was going to do some different things and did a stall. He asked what I thought of that and I said cool, just don’t do it again. But I loved the turns and looking around at everything. I even remember feeling the temperature change as we were falling and it went from cool to warm.

It was the most incredible thing I’ve ever experienced. And the feelings afterwards were so overwhelming I couldn’t think or talk straight for hours as I was trying to deal with it all. I did get drunk and cried and laughed a lot, I had never experienced all those emotions before and I’m not giving my weekend numbers out for that trip. That jump changed something in me and gave me the push I needed to make some changes in my life. I’m so excited about the future and as soon as I can, I’m JUMPING, moving on to AFF and beyond!
Sassy

[rushmc 18]

1st jump? That it finally happened. Jumping T-10's we needed winds at less than 6 mph. (I think) I went back to the DZ every weekend for 4 weeks, refreshed my training and waited and hoped to get to jump. (winds at 6 mph or less in Iowa is hard to find) When it finaly happened, I was in the "Let me just get this over with" mode.

The second jump is the one I really remember. I think it finally sunk in what I was doing and it scared me to death!

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[scottbre 0]

Quote

What's the most vivid memory about your first jump?

What I can remember most vividly was just about walking out of the classroom and going home after reading the waiver. Glad that I said, "ta hell with it."

"Your mother's full of stupidjuice!"
My Art Project

[Slowfaller 0]

There are a lot of fond memories of my whole 1st jump expeirence. The first was pulling up to SDC and looking around thinking that this is nothing like I expected. As far as the whole jump is concerned, I was in the front of the otter, 2nd to last out, and my buddy Ethan was the 1st one out. I had 7 of my good friends on the plane with me ready to jump out of it

On jump run when they cut the engines that really freaked me out. I was looking at Ethan with a huge grin on my face and then the engines cut. I looked out the window to see if they were still there and the next thing I know, Ethan is gone! One by one I watched my friends jump out and my turn came up. Hands on my harnes, head up Ready! Set! Go!

We did several flips and the feeling of nothing has to stand out the most. I knew that this was not going to be the last jump of mine.

Later that night, we all camped out, the DZ was having a 70's party and that was a lot of fun. All of us walked up, name tags still on our shirts, and was given high 5's, drank Texas Tornado and I even did a little dancing.

Great thread, it felt good to tell the story
Chris

PS - out of the 8 people that jumped, a couple made thier 2nd tandem, one of the girls that came made it to AFP lvl 6. My other friend graduated and has 26-28 jumps (the guy got married) and I have a whopping 58 jumps. The above day was July 29th 2000.

[Muenkel 0]

For me, there are many:

I remember waiting for the nerves to set in...and they never did! I could not believe how calm I was and psyched. It was just the right time and I had the right mental attitude.

I remember the noise in freefall and the cold air and actually the dryness in the air.

I remember the opening of the parachute. The first time was a little uncomfortable because I was actually not expecting it.

I remember saying "Holy Shit, this is awesome" about 100 times while under canopy.

I remember when I saw the ground so close to me, that I didn't want it to end.

I remember the incredibly soft landing (this of course, is a credit to my tandem master)

I remember not believing what I just did and being so proud of myself. Not to mention the self confidence.

I remember watching the video over and over and forcing everyone to watch it with me.

I remember realizing that something new and something big had just entered my life...never to leave.

_________________________________________
Chris

[ChileRelleno 0]

My tiptoe landing and the pure andrenalin coursing through my veins as i shouted my delight to the world!!!I went back up 1hour later and the instructors looked at each other and one made the motion of hooking into a fish,he was right I'm still hooked!
Chile"the crip"Relleno.

ChileRelleno-Rodriguez Bro#414
Hellfish#511,MuffBro#3532,AnvilBro#9, D24868